Pho Sho Hold & Win Slot Review

Pho Sho Hold & Win Slot Overview

Pho Sho Hold & Win slot throws me into a Vietnamese street food stall run by a friendly chef with a steaming bowl of pho. Betsoft has gone for a simple 5 reel, 4 row setup with 20 fixed paylines, so I knew straight away what I was getting. The theme is all about noodles, broth and spice, backed by sharp graphics and a fairly relaxed soundtrack.

From a gameplay angle, Pho Sho Hold & Win mixes straightforward line wins with two main bonuses, Hold & Win respins and Free Spins. There is also a Bonus Buy option for those who like to jump straight into bonus rounds. With high volatility, a 4000x max win and a hit rate of 17.42 percent, it has that swingy profile I expect from modern Hold & Win titles.

Pho Sho Hold & Win Slot Information

Pho Sho Hold & Win is set on a carriage style street stall, with the reels framed between the canopy and a row of bar stools. On the left, the noodle slurping guy doubles up as the Wild. Wins land when three or more matching symbols fall on adjacent reels from the left across the 20 paylines, so the layout will feel familiar if you have played classic video slots.

I like how clean the interface in Pho Sho Hold & Win feels. Bet and spin controls sit under the reels, with bet sizes running from 0.20 up to 100 per spin, which suits both small sessions and bigger bankrolls. The slot runs just as smoothly on mobile as on desktop, so tapping away on a phone while craving a bowl of pho works nicely.

Symbols and Paytable in Pho Sho Hold & Win

The paytable in Pho Sho Hold & Win starts with the card royals 10, J, Q, K and A as the lower paying symbols. Lining up five of a kind gives between 5x and 7.5x the bet, so they keep the balance ticking over rather than throwing massive hits. They still matter though, because in a high volatility game you often lean on those smaller line wins between feature rounds.

The higher paying symbols are all about the ingredients that go into a proper pho. Chilli, onion, lime, meat and noodles pay between 10x and 200x the bet for five of a kind, with the noodles symbol standing out as the best payer by some distance. The chef eating noodles acts as the Wild, stepping in for all regular symbols but never replacing the Scatter or Bonus coins.

On top of the standard symbol values, Pho Sho Hold & Win gives the Wild its own payouts. Hitting two to five Wilds in a line can award from 1x up to 200x the bet according to the paytable, which adds some weight to those premium hits. I have had spins where a stacked Wild line has practically felt like a mini bonus round on its own.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	Wild
	5	x200
	4	x15
	3	x2.5
	2	x1
	5	x200
	4	x15
	3	x2.5
	2	x1
	5	x25
	4	x7.5
	3	x2
	2	x0.5
	5	x15
	4	x4.5
	3	x1.75
	5	x12.5
	4	x4
	3	x1.5
	5	x10
	4	x3.5
	3	x1
	5	x7.5
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.75
	5	x7.5
	4	x1.5
	3	x0.75
	5	x5
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	5	x5
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	5	x5
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	Scatter

RTP, Volatility and Max Win in Pho Sho Hold & Win

In terms of maths, Pho Sho Hold & Win runs on a default RTP of 96.20 percent, with alternative versions at 94.05 and 91.86 percent depending on where you play. Volatility is labelled high, and it feels that way in practice, with long dry patches broken by chunky hits. The max win sits at 4000x the bet, and a listed hit frequency of 17.42 percent means wins land roughly every sixth spin.

Hold & Win Bonus Feature in Pho Sho Hold & Win

The Hold & Win Bonus in Pho Sho Hold & Win is triggered by landing six or more gold coin Bonus symbols anywhere on the reels. They do not form line wins themselves, but each coin carries a value from 1x up to 500x the bet. When the feature starts, triggering coins lock in place, the rest of the grid clears, and you get three respins on a dedicated bonus screen.

During the Hold & Win round, any new coin symbol that lands also locks and resets the counter back to three, while blanks simply eat through your remaining spins. The feature ends when you either run out of respins or fill every position with coins, at which point all values add up for your total win. On average, the Hold & Win triggers once in about 282 spins, so patience helps.

Free Spins and Bonus Buy in Pho Sho Hold & Win

Free Spins in Pho Sho Hold & Win come from the Scatter symbol, a tasty looking bowl of pho that can appear on all reels. Hitting three, four or five Scatters awards 5, 7 or 9 free spins. The free games themselves play much like the base, but you can still land Bonus coins. Hitting six or more coins during Free Spins launches the Hold & Win Bonus right from within the feature.

From the stats, Free Spins trigger about once every 266 spins, and while you are in them the Hold & Win round drops on average once in 15 bonus sessions. If you do not fancy waiting, Pho Sho Hold & Win lets you buy Free Spins for 90x, 126x or 160x the bet, awarding 5, 7 or 9 spins. I tend to save buys for when the base game feels especially cold.

Pho Sho Hold & Win Slot Verdict

For me, Pho Sho Hold & Win is a solid Hold & Win slot rather than a game changer, but I keep coming back to it when I want straightforward high volatility action. The combination of a clean Vietnamese street food theme, chunky symbol values and a Hold & Win feature that can pay hard if you land big coin values makes it an easy recommendation for fans of this mechanic.

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